Towards Indigenous Feminist Theorizing in the Caribbean

• Published in: Feminist review no. 59; pp. 6 - 33
• Main Author: Mohammed, Patricia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 01-07-1998; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: African Americans; Americas; Caribbean; Caribbean countries; Caribbean Region; Colonialism; Creoles; Demography; Developing Countries; Emigration and Immigration; Femininity; Feminism; Feminist Theory; Gender equality; Gender identity; Indigenous Populations; Masculinity; Men; Models, Theoretical; Native peoples; North America; Political Culture; Political Systems; Politics; Population; Population Dynamics; Postmodernism; Sexual Inequality; Sexuality; White people; Womens rights; Americas; North America; Caribbean Region; Caribbean area; Americas; Migration; Political Factors; North America; Political Systems; Theoretical Studies; Feminism; Colonialism; Population; Developing Countries; Caribbean; Demographic Factors; Population Dynamics
• ISSN: 0141-7789; 1466-4380

This attempt to develop an indigenous reading of feminism as both activism and discourse in the Caribbean is informed by my own preoccupation with the limits of contemporary postmodern feminist theorizing in terms of its accessibility, as well as application to understanding the specificity of a region. I, for instance, cannot speak for or in the manner of a white middle-class academic in Britain, or a black North American feminist, as much as we share similarities which go beyond the society, and which are fuelled by our commitment to gender equality. At the same time, our conversations are intersecting as a greater clarity of thought emerges in relation and perhaps in reaction to the other. Ideas of difference and the epistemological standpoint of 'Third World' women have been dealt with admirably by many feminist writers such as Chandra Mohanty, Avtah Brah and Uma Narayan. In this article I draw on the ideas emerging in contemporary western feminist debates pertaining to sexual difference and equality and continue my search for a Caribbean feminist voice which defines feminism and feminist theory in the region, not as a linear narrative but one which has continually intersected with the politics of identity in the region.